Iced Chelsea Buns

Recipe Adapted from Paul Hollywood

Ingredients

For Dough

• 500 grams (Roughly about 4 1/4 cups) bread flour*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup white sugar, plus 1 tablespoon, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened not melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk, warmed

For Filling

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (50g for both filling and greasing baking pan,) softened but not melted
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 cups dried cranberries, cherries or currants (or a mixture of all the above if you like)

For Icing

• 1 cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
• Zest of about ½ orange (about 1 tablespoon)
• About 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions

In a large glass measuring cup, pour in the milk, sprinkle in the yeast, and then add 1 tablespoon of the sugar on top of that. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, until yeast is proofed and frothy.

Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer (or, if you’re using a handheld mixer or baking by hand, pour it in in a large bowl)

Add the rest of the sugar, the salt, the butter, the egg and 2 cups of the flour. Use the dough hook(s) (or a wooden spoon if you’re making by hand) to combine.

Stir until the mixture is well mixed and starts coming together as a soft dough. You may add more flour here as needed, but the actual amount you will need will vary according to your location and the time of year. Keep in mind, this is meant to be a soft dough and you don’t want to add any more flour than necessary. Only add enough to hold it together

Turn dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough with your greased hands until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Lightly grease the large mixing bowl with butter or cooking spray. Place dough in the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and a damp small kitchen towel. Let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. 

Line a 13 x 9 baking sheet with parchment paper and spray the paper with cooking spray.

Turn the risen dough out onto your work surface. Knead dough briefly, 4 to 5 times. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 21-inches by 10-inches.

Spread 3 tablespoons of softened butter over the top of the dough. Spread the brown sugar evenly over the top to within 1 inch of the edges. Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over the brown sugar, then scatter the dried fruit evenly over the top.

Roll-up dough jelly-roll style, starting with a long side, rolling the dough quite tightly. Place the roll seam-side down, and gently roll the entire roll on the lightly floured board with the palm of your hands to even-out the roll to the same thickness.

Using a sharp kitchen knife or a bench scraper, slice off the very ends of the roll where the ends are uneven (slice off about ½ inch, the ends can be discarded.) Slice the long dough roll into 12 equal pieces, and place the rolls cut side up evenly apart in the baking pan. (Measure the length of the roll and use the back of a kitchen knife to mark the roll at the half-way point. Then mark each half into 6 pieces. After marking, use a sharp knife to slice the rolls all the way through.)

Cover pan with plastic wrap and the damp kitchen towel again and let rolls rise and spread out in a warm place, about 1 hour. Tip: The rolls should be about doubled in size, spread out with the sides touching, and look quite puffy. If the centers are popped up you can gently push the centers back down with your fingers.

While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes or until the rolls are a rich golden brown or the internal temperature reads 180 to 190 degrees F using an instant read thermometer to gauge the temperature. Remove rolls from oven. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool slightly while preparing the icing.

In a small bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar, orange zest, and enough orange juice to make a good spreading consistency. Spread the orange icing on top of the still warm rolls.